Fit Bits: Bury's James McLaren on his top workouts

This month personal fitness instructor James McLaren – who launched high-end gym Eventus22 in Bury St Edmunds at the end of the year – reveals his inspirations, go-to-workouts and get-fit tips

My fitness story

I’m the owner and founder of Eventus22. I’ve been in the industry for the past seven years. Eventus22 is an evolution of James McLaren Fitness. Eventus is Latin and one of its meanings is ‘to succeed’, which so many people don’t manage to achieve when it comes to this whole ‘gym thing’.

We emphasise the ‘E’ from Eventus as E is the mathematical symbol meaning ‘to belong to something’, which is fitting for our ethos and culture. Also yellow is the colour of friendliness and we wanted to express our values with our name and branding.

What I love about my job

I love watching the team transform the lives of our members through creating a supportive and friendly environment for people to thrive with their health and fitness. We know that in turn, this positive experience carries over and affects not only their lives for the better, but the lives of people around them too.

My go-to quick workout

I don’t have a quick workout as such, but if I do have time constraints, I’ll make it as dense as possible with some form of EMOM (Every Minute, On The Minute interval training) or Escalating Density Style training (which is an advanced style of training where you try to perform as many sets of a given exercise as possible in a fixed time period).

My favourite feel-good long workout

I love smashing a legs workout; they tend to be the muscle group I spend the most time on.

Favourite energy-boosting food

When it comes to snacks and I’m short on time, you can’t go far wrong with a high-protein U-fit drink and a Trek Bar.

My indulgent treat food

I love pizza and pick and mix!

How I relax

I love watching Stath Lets Flats, the Channel 4 sitcom starring Jamie Demetriou as incompetent Greek-Cypriot letting agent Stath. If I’ve had a long stressful day that’s my go-to!

Top tip for anyone who needs motivating to start exercise

My advice would be to figure out your why. Saying I want to get fitter isn’t enough. If you want more energy to do more activities with your children, for example, that’s a compelling reason to get started.

Eventus22 is at 1 Bunting Road, Bury St Edmunds. Find out more at eventus22.fit or email james@eventus22.fit